Monday, October 5, 2015

Almost Tuesday: Conservative Conundrums

Let’s talk about conundrums. First, let me just say, I never liked Megyn Kelly. She has a long record of portraying black and brown and poor people as subhuman ape-beasts who roam the streets taking away your freedom and safety. She does the same thing to women regarding birth control, maternity leave, and workplace etiquette, but she usually changes her mind once she experiences gender-based discrimination. Donald Trump took a harsh tone with her, basically saying that he would treat her like the other women he’s treated, and then used the VERY poor choice of words to attack her days later. Now I’m in a position where I am taking up for the person who demonizes me, but against a bigger comb-over demon! At least it’s not as confusing as Jeb Bush or Mike Huckabee admonishing Trump. All of the Republican candidates have said some very insulting things about women and been dismissive of women’s issues, and yet they are saying that Trump is in the wrong. That’s like a lion accusing a jackal of being a carnivore, while he’s munching on an antelope. Well, did you see the Republican Presidential debate? Most of my friends did and made it a drinking game.

Trump is still high in the polls. We all know that means little right now, and people are shaking a little bit because of this. He is a Golem. Not the Smeagle Lord of the Rings Gollum, but a Golem. It’s a monster created from mud intended to defend its creator against aggression, but turns on its creator. Fox has been pumping up Donald Trump for the last 10 years. They’ve been giving him a pulpit, praising him when he’s bragging, playing yes-man to his claims of inflated grandeur, laughing with him when he equates certain women to barnyard animals. And now he’s out on the loose! What could have been a kooky third-party candidate billionaire who would eventually fade into the distance is now on top of their party’s race for the WHite House, and not even Iowa can stop him. They created this monster, and if things keep going the way they’re going, it will topple them all. It will be the biggest, classiest toppling ever.

Another conundrum is that of the clash of Bernie Sanders and the #BlackLivesMatter movement in Seattle. Some activists started infiltrated campaign events, chanting the now-iconic phrase. It happened to Hillary Clinton, to Martin O’Malley, and to Bernie Sanders! People said that they should have been tased and arrested. I remember back during the Bush years, a group called Code Pink and Occupy Wall Street would regularly disrupt congressional sessions, campaign speeches, and even the State of the Union Address. The same people who were cheering on Code Pink and OWS are now saying that the #BlackLivesMatter people should be in jail! It’s just confusing since when you look at their Facebook pages, you’d think they’d be all for a little civil unrest. I couldn’t get a bagel downtown for 3 weeks! You know, #BlackActivistsMatter, too.

And look, I get it. If I am in the middle of a speech, I don’t want to get interrupted. However, this is the nature of civil disobedience. Sometimes it’s rude. And I get the insolence at Bernie Sanders being interrupted. Bernie is the one candidate who probably WOULD listen to grass roots activists, despite the homogenous crowds he’s drawing right now. Yes, he’s an old white man, but he’s not the “get off my lawn” old white man. He’s the “would you like a Werthers Original while I tell you about when I handed out waters to people at the March on Washington” old white man.